[en] Recent measurements for 0-, 1-, and 2-electron ions channeled in [111] Au suggest that the electronic stopping power, dE/dx, depends on the spatial distribution of charge on the projectile. We have investigated the effect of the projectile charge distribution on dE/dx using the Lindhard dielectric theory of stopping. The charge distribution contribution is demonstrated directly within the framework of this theory. Good agreement is obtained between experiment and theory when higher order z₁-effects, which are of comparable magnitude (approx. 5 to 10%), are included in a self-consistent phenomenological manner